Ladbrokes £7m betting boo-boo leaves punter fuming

Betting Hideout reported last month on how well Ladbrokes had come out in preventing underage betting, however all the good press coverage last month sadly can’t wipe out the negative media stories that Ladbrokes Bookmakers are receiving now. The reason for Ladbrokes attracting some bad press is that they have been accused of refusing to pay out £7 million on a punters bet that there would be a white Christmas with snow being recorded as falling on Christmas Day in 24 towns or cities in Northern England.  Ladbrokes are protesting that the bet placed by the (in the circumstances) unlucky winner was accepted in error. Cliff Bryant, the punter who is convinced that his bet should be paid, is now in the process of having his case heard by the Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS).

Mr Bryant hopping mad with offer of alternative payout of under £32

Mr Bryant is not a happy bunny at all, even though Ladbrokes have very kindly offered to pay out as a singles bet instead of the two £5 accumulator bets which he originally placed.  This would, according to a story published by Reuters, give him the princely sum of £31.78 instead of the £7 million that he was expecting to collect. Clearly there is a misunderstanding of the highest magnitude as a Ladbrokes spokesperson explained the company position "We have apologised to the customer for any confusion and for mistakenly accepting an accumulator bet when our own rules state that only single bets are available on a market of this nature," and "We are happy to void the bets and to pay the customer his winnings on the relevant singles."

Mr Bryant for his part is not accepting of Ladbrokes offer, and is quoted as saying the Southern Daily Echo "If I make a mistake in my work like that it costs me dearly and I think the offer should be a lot more generous than they have made,"  IBAS have acknowledged that Mr Bryant had contacted them and are awaiting the relevant forms to be returned to them before an investigation can be commenced.

www.ladbrokes.com